What the Hell is a Hufflepuff?
by Strawberry-Chappy Forever
Summary: After escaping from Aizen, Kaien, Masaki, Evee and Daisuke have had barely a year to rest before they're sent off to Hogwarts under the guise of transfers. Now, with orders to protect Harry Potter, what will happen when Daisuke is entered into the Triwizard Tournament?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Daisuke looked down at the envelope in his hand, pulling out the letter and reading it for the fifth time.

"'Dear Mr. Ichimaru'," he read under his breath. "'I am happy to tell you that you and a select few have been accepted as transfer students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.' What? This is a prank right?" he flipped the thick-papered letter over, looking for something on the back before holding it up to the light as if it would reveal a hidden message.

"Huh," he said finally, giving up and pulling another letter out of the envelope. "And that's a supply list..." He continued reading. "'Term starts on September 1st. We welcome you and the new students and teachers. Sincerely—Albus Dumbledore'. Whatever."

"Daisuke!" his mother's voice floated down the stairs. "Dad sent you a message from Soul Society!"

"Coming!" he called back, throwing the letters and envelope back onto the couch.

Seconds later, he was ripping open another envelope on the stairs.

'Daisuke,

You're being sent on another mission from the head captain. There's a school in Scotland for...special students. Old Man Yama has been contacted by the school's headmaster who requested that we send Soul Reapers that would be able to pass as students to protect a boy named Harry Potter. A man named Voldemort is supposedly on the rise and has been trying to kill Harry for the past three years. I hope you've been studying your English! Have fun. Make new friends.

-Dad'

"Okay, not a prank?"

Still standing on the staircase, he looked up when he heard four small knocks on the door. He jumped the last few steps and pulled the door open to see Masaki and Kaien, identical expressions of confusion on their faces. Daisuke noticed Masaki clutching a letter in her fist.

"You guys got one too, huh?" he said, standing back to let them in. Daisuke couldn't help but smile when they nodded at the same time, both started forward on the same foot, ran into each other in the doorway and muttered, "Oh, sorry," in the same tone.

"Wow, you two really are twins," he said with a laugh.

"Shut up!" they yelled at the same time. They turned to each other, their next words tumbling out in synch. "Quit doing that! Stop it! Knock it off!"

The two of them glared at each other before both opening their mouths and shouting, "Uncle Byakuya has girl hair!"

They stopped at the sound of Rangiku laughing as she came down the stairs.

"I almost don't wanna know what that argument was about," she said, wiping a tear from her eyes and joining them by the door. "Don't worry, I won't tell him you said that. I guess you guys are going on the mission too?"

The twins nodded and Kaien spoke up.

"Evee called me and said she got one too."

"Our parents said we were s'posed to meet two other Soul Reapers at the Urahara Shoten in two days at 4:30 AM," Masaki added.

"And we have to get up so early because?" Daisuke asked. Masaki shrugged.

"Something about training, getting the equipment we need, stuff like that."

Daisuke looked back down at the letter in his hand. "Well, if anything, it can't be worse than Aizen...can it?"

"I hope not," said Masaki with a sigh. "Especially considering I nearly lost my arm..."

"Hey, you DO take after your dad!" said Rangiku with a grin, patting Masaki on the shoulder. "I can't tell you how many times he took a blow to the shoulder...I wonder if people thought that was his weak spot or something...hmm..."

"Anyway," said Daisuke, clapping his hands together. "May as well have fun with this while we can."

And so, two days later, four sleepy teenagers stood outside the Urahara Shoten. They literally looked like they'd been dragged out of bed, handed bags, and sent out the door. Evee's hair stuck up in odd directions, Masaki had dark shadows under her eyes, Daisuke seemed to be falling asleep where he stood and Kaien was swaying back and forth like he'd fall over any second.

"Yo, Urahara!" Kaien shouted, his voice cracking slightly. "Let us in! The door's locked!"

The lock clicked and the door slid open revealing a fan-waving Urahara.

"'Bout time you guys got here," he said cheerily. Daisuke's head jerked up with a grunt and he mumbled, "Huh? Yeah." before grabbing a dozing Masaki's hand and leading her into the building. Kaien and Evee followed afterward, Kisuke bringing up the rear and shutting the door behind him.

"Everyone else is downstairs in the basement," he said. "You know where to go."

They all made their way slowly but surely down to the basement. Waiting for them were Renji in a gigai and two people in long robes that reached the ground. Once of the people, in purple robes, was a man who looked like he may have been over 100 years of age with half-moon glasses and long, silver hair that matched the beard tucked into his belt.

"He looks like Yamamoto," Kaien whispered loudly to Evee. Beside the old man was a woman who was younger than him, but still plenty old, in emerald robes with square glasses that covered stern eyes.

"I am Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of the school you'll be attending this year. I wanted to welcome you in person before we got to the school," said the old man, bowing low. The Soul Reapers just stared blankly at him.

"Oh, sorry! I forgot," said Kisuke from behind Masaki. He pulled what looked like and ear-piercer from his pocket and told Masaki to hold out her hand. Too tired to object, she held it up.

"Why'd you want me too—OW!" she jerked her hand back when Kisuke used the small gun to shoot something into the palm of her hand. "What was that for?"

"Heh. You're awake now, huh? It's a little device I created," Kisuke explained while moving onto Kaien, who gave his hand a little reluctantly, "that allows you to speak and understand any language you hear. This will especially come in handy because I would only have a day to teach most of you English…"

Evee gasped and jerked her hand away when Kisuke used the gun on her.

"Let's try those introductions again, shall we?" said Kisuke said, shooting Daisuke's hand and moving on to Renji.

"Kids, this is Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," Kisuke announced in English with a flourish of his fan. "Accompanying him is Deputy Headmistress Minerva McGonagall."

The two of them bowed when their names were said. Dumbledore smiled kindly at them.

"You've been told, I trust, that you will be attending under the cover of transfer students, yes?"

They nodded and he continued, "Lieutenant Abarai and a captain will be assistant teachers this year."

"Who's the captain?" Evee asked, scratching her head and messing up her hair even more. Their question was answered as someone slid the rest of the way down the ladder saying, "Sorry I'm late!"

The twins froze.

"I know that voice," said Masaki. They all turned around to see Ishiin Kurosaki in his body jogging towards them.

"My beautiful grandchildren!" he shouted, running toward them, arms outstretched. The twins sidestepped away from each other and Ishiin tackled the air between them.

"Hey, Grandpa," said Kaien, waving half-heartedly. "You're coming too?"

"Yep!" he said, pulling himself up off the ground. "They wanted to send your parents, but the two of them got held up doing something in Soul Society. So they sent me and Renji instead!"

"Oh, yay…please don't try and tackle us when we walk into the classroom…" said Masaki. Ishiin gave her a look.

"You're mean when you're tired."

"Tell me about it," Kaien and Daisuke mumbled. Masaki glared and Ishiin continued.

"Anyway, I'll be good if I have to."

Dumbledore cleared his throat. "Now, as I'm sure you're all aware, you won't be starting in the first year. You'll need to go over certain spells and potions before you come. Of course, you'll have the rest of the summer to go over these things—."

"Wait," Evee turned to Kisuke. "You said we only had a day."

"Well, more like a few hours," he hid his face behind his fan. "I'll be getting you a few of your supplies and then sending you off to London!

"The six of you will be staying at an inn called the Leaky Cauldron. Kaien and Daisuke will share one room, Evee and Masaki and Ishiin and Renji will share another two. Out the back of the Leaky Cauldron, is Diagon Alley, which is where you'll get your supplies. During your stay you'll be able to go over any spells and other things you'll need to learn before school starts.

"For now, I have a few supplies for you." He pulled a box from his robe and pulled the top off. Inside were four thin, wooden sticks of slightly different lengths and colors. "These are your wands. They were created specifically for this mission and have a sort of…" he searched for the right word. "…memory. Just focus your reiatsu through them and you can use them like any other student could their own. You only need to perform a spell once and the spell will immediately work from then on. I've also customized them, if you've noticed."

He handed them out to the four of them. Evee's was ivory looking with black rings around the ends of the handle and was about 12". Kaien's was black as night with a white handle; Masaki's was the other way around and both were 14". Daisuke's looked pure black, but when he turned it in the light, blue streaks became apparent in the wood. His was 13 ½".

"When you get to the Leaky Cauldron, talk to the barkeeper, Tom. He'll tell you how to get into Diagon Alley," Kisuke went on with the explanations. "When you get there, go to Gringotts Bank and tell them you need to go to vault 394. Renji's got a key already if they ask for it. Now!" he clapped his hands together, shutting his fan with a snap. "That's all I have to say! Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall will be getting you there. Have a fun year!"

"Wait," Masaki held up her hands, "what about here? We actually _do_ go to school here. What'll they think when we don't show up for the beginning of the school year?"

"I've got that handled. Don't worry! We'll go in pairs then? Ladies first!"

The two professors both held out an arm.

"Hold on to our arms, if you could, girls," said Dumbledore with a kind smile. Masaki and Evee exchanged a look, readjusted their grip on their bags and did as they were told, Masaki with Dumbledore, Evee with McGonagall.

"How does this—?" Evee started. She was cut off when the two professors spun around on their heels and disappeared with a small pop.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Evee couldn't breathe, she felt like she was being sucked through a thin tube before she landed roughly on her feet on a wooden floor. Next to her was Masaki who moved to sit on a nearby chair at a long table.

"What the hell was that?" she asked, trying to catch her breath.

"It's called apparation," McGonagall explained quickly before disappearing again.

"I apologize," said Dumbledore with a small bow. "I should've warned you to hold your breath."

And with that, he turned on his heel and disappeared. Seconds later, they reappeared with Kaien and Daisuke, then Renji and Ishiin.

"Alright," said Ishiin, cracking his knuckles. "Let's get checked in, shall we?"

"We'll see you in a few weeks," Dumbledore said before he and McGonagall disappeared again. Ishiin talked to Tom who nodded and showed them to their rooms. As soon as Masaki was in the door, she flopped onto the nearest bed, mumbling, "S'one's mine," into the pillow. Not two seconds later, she was asleep, jacket, jeans and shoes still on. Evee waved at the rest of them with a tired smile.

"I think Masaki has the right idea. See you guys later."

The rest of them followed suit, apart from Ishiin who decided to roam the hall "guarding his beautiful grandchildren" from anything or anyone who looked a little shifty. Eventually, he moved downstairs to start a conversation with Tom.

Around noon, Masaki came down the stairs, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes to see Ishiin talking with the barkeeper who was cleaning out a glass with a grubby-looking rag. Ishiin looked up at the sound of the stairs creaking and grinned broadly. "Ah! Speak of the devil, here's one of them now!"

"That's nice," Tom muttered vaguely.

"'Bout time you woke up," Ishiin went on. "Thought you died up there!"

Masaki sent a glare in his direction. After what had happened in Hueco Mundo, she didn't find the comment funny. Daisuke came down a few minutes later with a large grin on his face. He stretched before pulling out a chair and sitting next to Masaki.

"Any weird dreams?" he asked.

"Probably," she said around a yawn. "I don't remember anything…"

"Really?" he said skeptically. Something in her tone said she was lying. Masaki sighed and folded her hands on the table.

"Okay, you got me. I've been having nightmares for the past couple weeks."

"Nightmares?"

She nodded. "About Aizen and Grimmjow. I'm in a room alone with them. They start attacking me and I reach for Toketsu but she isn't there. Grimmjow throws me across the room and I try to get back up and run, but something grabs me from behind. When I turn around, my Hollow has me by the arms then Aizen and Grimmjow come at me at the same time and…" her fingers tightened around each other. Daisuke put his hand over both of hers and she looked up at him. He was a little shocked to see the beginning of tears in her dark brown eyes and she quickly blinked them away before continuing. "Well, you get the idea."

"Hey," Daisuke started sternly, using his free hands to make Masaki look at him. "They're gone now. Both of them. They can't even _look_ at you anymore."

Masaki nodded slightly and her eyes widened just a fraction when she noticed how close their faces were. He moved even closer, their noses touching. She held her breath, heart pounding, not sure whether or not to push him away.

"I—"

"You two ready to go shopping?" Ishiin said loudly, grabbing their shoulders and coming between them. Masaki turned red and leaned away from Daisuke.

"Y-yeah. I'll go wake up Evee!"

She got up quickly, almost taking the rickety chair with her and hurried up the stairs.

"What was that about?" Ishiin asked. Daisuke just shrugged, watching Masaki go.

Finally, after coaxing Kaien out of bed, they hit the streets of Diagon Alley. The long, cobbled street was packed with witches and wizards all in robes of assorted colors. Daisuke found it ironic that _they _were the ones getting strange looks.

"Alright-y then!" said Ishiin clapping his hands together while Renji pulled out the supply list. "You four go get fitted for your robes. Renji and I will get the money and your books!"

"Right," said Renji, absent-mindedly reading the list as he walked. He suddenly froze. "Wait, _all of them?"_

"Yep!"

His shoulders slumped and he started dragging his feet. "Ah, fine."

"Oh, don't be so lazy," Ishiin said loudly, slapping the younger man between the shoulder blades. Renji glared at him before grumbling something under his breath and heading down the street toward the white, marble building, Ishiin following close behind.

"Where do we go to get robes?" Kaien asked. Masaki pulled out her own list.

"Madame Malkin's."

"Right…where?"

"I think it's that way," Evee said, pointing to a building on their right with a faded, hanging sign reading 'Madame Malkin's Robe Shop'.

"Heh," said Kaien, rubbing the back of his neck. "Right…I knew that…"

They pushed into the shop, hearing a bell ding as the door opened.

"Be out in a moment!" came a voice from behind the racks. An older woman appeared from underneath a mass of black robes. "Hello there, dears. Hogwarts?"

"Uh…yes. Yes we need robes," said Kaien. "Well, I guess that was obvious, since we're in here but…yeah."

"We're transfers from a school in Japan," Masaki cut in, keeping her brother from becoming even more awkward.

"Oh! That's interesting. Well, I'll get you fitted here in a moment. If you could just wait over there for a second."

They complied while Madame Malkin put away a few of the robes in her enormous pile before dumping the rest of them on the floor.

"Right. Well, who's first?" she asked, clapping her hands together. "How about you, dearie?"

Malkin grabbed Daisuke's sleeve and pulled him over to start measuring. Soon he was set and Malkin was moving on to Evee.

"So what made you pick Hogwarts for your transfer school?" Malkin asked, pinning one of Evee's sleeves before waving her wand so the rest of the pins worked by themselves.

"Oh, I'm not really sure," said Masaki with a sigh. Kaien couldn't help but smile. She was really getting into her their cover story. "I figured it'd be nice to see England and Scotland and they agreed, so, here we are!"

Masaki smiled way too brightly for it to be genuine (at least from her) and Malkin smiled back.

"Well, I'm sure you'll have a good year. You picked a good one to come, after all. There's something exciting happening this year…"

She trailed off, waving her wand. The pins fell to the floor and a needle stitched everything up in a matter of seconds.

"That's you done dear. Next?"

Masaki stepped up and Malkin started pinning her up.

"Um…what did you mean by 'something exciting'?" she asked.

"Oh, I'm not allowed to say, dear. I shouldn't have mentioned it in the first place…"

Masaki raised her eyebrows at her friends who shrugged in return. A fiery-haired woman laden down with bags walked into the store. She set most of her bags by the door and brought another up to Malkin.

"Oh, I didn't see you had someone!" she said kindly. "I'll just leave these here then. Ronald's robes need to be lengthened again. I swear that boy will never stop growing!"

Malkin smiled. "I don't believe he will! I take it the others need resizing as well?"

The woman nodded and put her last bag near Malkin on the floor and looked up at the four teenagers.

"I haven't seen you four before," she said with a warm smile.

"We're transfers," said Kaien. Malkin waved her wand at the pins again and they worked for themselves.

"They're from Japan," Malkin cut in.

"Oh! That's exciting! I heard Japan is very beautiful! What year will you be starting in?" the woman asked.

"We'll be sixth years," said Evee.

"I have two sons that will be sixth years this year. They're twins."

"So are we," said Kaien, jabbing his thumb at his sister.

"Well, you'll want to look out for Fred and George. They're quite the mischief makers."

She checked her watch and gave a little start.

"I had better get going! I have a lot more to buy!" she looked back at the transfers. "If you need any help, my family and I will be at the Leaky Cauldron during the last couple of weeks of the summer."

"Oh, thank you," said Evee, looking surprised. "We just might take you up on that."

The woman smiled and left, mumbling something under her breath about Daisuke being too thin. Finally, after about twenty minutes, they were all fitted and now the four of them were waiting outside for Ishiin and Renji to get there with the money.

"A little help here!" shouted someone from down the street. They looked up to see Renji, laden down with large, lumpy bags, attempting to walk down the street towards them. Kaien and Daisuke dashed forward and took two bags each from Renji. The red-haired man thanked them and straightened up; no longer giving the impression he had a hunchback. Ishiin followed soon after, carrying a few books and a small bag full of what they assumed was money.

"Why aren't you carryin' anything?" Renji snapped bitterly once he'd put his bags down. Ishiin gave him a mock glare.

"I'm an old man."

"You're not _that _old!"

"It doesn't matter now. Now, who's up for ice cream?" Ishiin asked happily. Renji looked a little infuriated.

"_Ice cream?!"_

"Grandpa, we still have to pay for the robes…" said Masaki, jabbing a thumb over her shoulder at the shop. Madame Malkin was waiting patiently in the doorway.

"Right! Here you go!"

Ishiin tossed the bag into the air and Daisuke caught it before disappearing into the shop.

"That ice cream offer still stands," said Ishiin, a hopeful look in his eyes. Deciding to humor their grandfather, the twins agreed and once Daisuke had re-emerged with all their robes, they made their way down the road to Florean Fortescue's.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Two weeks passed in which the four transfers spent hours in their rooms, learning various spells and hoping not to be noticed. A small accident with Daisuke's flame spell left them all down in the bar while Ishiin put out the fire.

"So…" Daisuke started awkwardly. The tips of his hair were singed and he smelled faintly of smoke. Masaki cleared her throat and Kaien drummed his knuckles on the bar.

"Haven't seen any hollows in a while," Evee quipped, trying to break the silence.

"Yeah, neither have I," said Masaki. "That seems a little strange…"

"Yeah…" Kaien agreed. "You don't think there're only hollows in Japan…do you?"

"No," Daisuke said. "I think we just haven't been seeing them because they haven't been around…I mean, maybe there's a Shinigami assigned to this place?"

"You have a point there…"

The four of them lapsed into silence again. Ishiin came down the stairs. His hair was smoking and his face was charred.

"Fire's out!"

"There was a fire?" Tom asked incredulously. He'd just walked in from the bathroom.

"Nope!" said Ishiin quickly before sprinting back up the stairs. Tom seemed like he wanted to follow, when a large group of people walked in the doors. Most of them had bright red hair and the four at the bar recognized the plump woman they'd seen before. She was giving orders to the others around her as they pushed their way into the inn.

"Fred, George, no fireworks! Especially not indoors!" she called to two brothers who must have been twins.

"Right, Mum!" they said simultaneously, walking up the stairs to their room.

"Ron, you and Harry will share a room."

"All right," said another red-haired boy. He was tall and had freckles all across his long nose. The boy was followed by another who was a bit shorter and had messy black hair that came to a stop just over bright green eyes behind round-rimmed glasses. The Shinigami and arrancar assumed the black-haired one was Harry.

"D'you think he's the one we're s'posed to look after?" Kaien asked, nudging his friends to get their attention. Harry turned his head and in the small place where his bangs split they could see the tell-tale, lightning-shaped scar on his forehead.

"Yep," said Evee. Harry seemed to notice them staring at him and looked away, following the other boy—they gathered that his name was Ron—up the stairs. A girl with long, red hair walked in the door, dragging a trunk, and was followed by a girl with bushy, brown hair. The second girl was carrying a basket that sounded like it was hissing.

"Ginny, Hermione, your room is on the other side of the twins'," said the woman with a kind smile.

"Thanks, Mum," said Ginny. "Hermione, let's let out your cat before it eats the basket."

"Right, yes…"

Hermione let go of the trunk she was holding with one hand to open the top of the wicker basket. A large, bandy-legged, squashed-faced cat jumped out, landing lightly on the floor. Some of its orange fur stuck to the basket, but Hermione didn't seem to notice. She and Ginny followed the rest up the stairs. They heard Hermione say, "Do you smell smoke?" followed by a small groan from Tom before a door shut loudly. The woman stood by one of the tables with a balding, ginger man who could only have been her husband. She spotted the four sitting quietly at the bar and smiled broadly at them.

"Oh! I hoped the four of you would still be here. We weren't properly introduced last time," she said happily. "I'm Molly Weasley, and this is my husband, Arthur."

"Pleasure," said Arthur kindly, holding out a hand for one of them to shake. They four of them sort of stared blankly at him before Masaki suddenly remembered their English class at school. She shook his hand and the others followed suit.

"I thought you four would like to meet our children and their friends," Molly continued. "It'd be nice to know someone at school beforehand."

"Oh, right," said Daisuke. "You said you had sons our age."

"Fred and George," Arthur nodded. "Ron's about two years younger, and his sister Ginny is only a year below him."

The four of them felt it was safe to assume that the red-haired people were the children that Molly and Arthur were referring to.

"Who were the other two?"

"The girl was Hermione Granger, a friend of Ron's. The other one was Harry Potter," Molly paused as if waiting for some sort of reaction. Receiving none, she continued. "He's Ronald's best friend. The three of them are starting their fourth year."

"Mum!" one of the twins called as the two of them jogged down the stairs. "Fred and I are going to Zonko's. We'll be back in—oh, hello."

The twins caught sight of the transfers. The two of them rerouted their course toward the bar.

"Hey there," said the one on the right. He pointed at his twin. "That's Gred."

"He's Forge," the other one finished.

"We may look like twins," started the first one.

"But, we actually just met on the train," the second finished. The girls laughed while Daisuke rolled his eyes. Kaien feigned surprise.

"Really?" he said, his eyes wide. He wrapped an arm around a still giggling Masaki. "We met in a class at our old school. She set my hair on fire and we've been best friends ever since…"

Masaki snorted, unable to take her brother seriously. The Weasley twins laughed as well, turning to their parents.

"I think we'll get along with them," they said in synch. Fred and George turned back to the transfers.

"We're going to Zonko's Joke Shop. Would you like to come?"

Evee shrugged. "Why not?"

"Excellent," the twins chorused. "We'll show you the way."

The six of them began to file out into Diagon Alley. Kaien caught Harry's gaze as the British boy walked down the stairs, his two friends on his heels.

"Harry!" said Fred.

"Absolutely wonderful to see you," said George, refining his accent.

"Spiffing," Fred agreed, doing the same. The two of them bowed low with a flourish.

"We'll be heading to Zonko's," George began, folding his hands in front of him.

"Care to join us, old fellow?" Fred finished, copying his twin's position. The trio of wizards on the stairs broke into large smiles and agreed.

"Very well then," Fred continued.

"Onward!" they both shouted, half-marching down the cobbled street with their small 'army' behind them.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

The four transfers had begun to fall into a system of going to Zonko's with the twins, Masaki wandering around Flourish and Blotts with Hermione, the boys joining Harry and Ron at a shop called Quality Quidditch Supplies where they learned all about Ron's favorite team, the Chudley Cannons, and eating an ice cream at Florean Fortescue's. Now, laden down with waterproof fireworks, fanged Frisbees and other pranks, the students made their way, laughing, back to the Leaky Cauldron. There was only one more day until they were due to leave for King's Cross Station. The nine of them sat around the long table in the bar, passing around a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. The general noise of conversation buzzed from the people around them.

"All right, Daisuke, your turn," said Ron, passing Daisuke the box. Daisuke dug around in the box and pulled out a bright blue one. Checking the flavors on the back, he hesitantly bit the tip off of the bean and smiled, popping the rest of it into his mouth.

"Blueberry. And, I believe, my friends, the last safe flavor in the box."

"Let the games begin," said Fred with a grin, taking the box from Daisuke. "Here are the rules, ladies and gentlemen! We will pass the box around and take a bean. You are _not_ allowed to check the flavor on the box. You will get one point for actually eating the thing, and another for guessing the flavor correctly. We'll pass it around clockwise…starting with George."

"_What_?" George practically shouted as his twin shoved the box into his hands.

"And I forgot to mention, if you refuse to eat it, you're out!" Fred tacked on. George made a face at him.

"Fine."

George carefully selected a jelly bean, spent a good few seconds scrutinizing it before finally, with a shout of, "Just eat it already!" from Fred, flipped it into the air and caught it in his mouth. Immediately, he gagged and choked out the word, "Vomit!" sending everyone into a fit of laughter.

"Gotta swallow it, Georgie!"

George gulped and opened his mouth, sticking out his tongue to show it was gone, and Fred threw a fist in the air.

"Two points to George!" he cheered. George, attempting to scrub his tongue on his sleeve, passed the box to Kaien who had tears in his eyes.

"Oh, jeez. This'll end well," he muttered, taking a gray, foggy-looking bean and eating it. He chewed it for a second or two before pulling a face. "Ugh, soap."

"And two points to the foreign boy! George, you've got some competition," said Fred, smiling mischievously. Evee took the box from Kaien and looked at it.

"I think I'll pass," she said quietly, trying to pass the box to Hermione.

"You sure?" Kaien asked. Evee nodded and handed the box off to Hermione who decided to pass as well, looking back down at the book she had in her lap.

"The game's gettin' easier," said Ron as he picked out a brownish-spotted one. He nibbled a bit off the end and gagged as soon as it hit his tongue. "Earthworm—definitely earthworm!"

He set the rest of the bean down on the table while he tried to get the taste out of his mouth.

"Sorry, Ickle-Ronniekins," said Fred.

"You didn't eat the whole thing," said George.

"You're out!" they chorused. Ron slumped back in his chair and put his arms behind his head. He looked over at Hermione.

"Whatcha reading, Hermione?" he asked.

"Actually, it's the Arithmancy book for this year. It's quite an interesting read really," she explained, although it was obvious she'd lost his attention at the word "Arithmancy".

Harry bit into a liver-flavored bean and spit it back out, mumbling, "That's disgusting!" under his breath. The box went around and around until finally it was down to two. Daisuke and Masaki passed the box back and forth, each jelly bean seeming more disgusting than the last until finally it was Masaki's turn once more. She drew out a bright green jelly bean and popped it into her mouth.

"It's actually not that bad…kinda tastes like green apple…" she said. Soon, however, she began to pull a face, not unlike the one Kaien pulled with his soap jelly bean. "Grass. That is grass."

"That's correct!" said George who'd become a sort of referee of the game since he'd been out. "Now you just need to swallow it."

She did and pushed the box across the table to Daisuke.

"Your turn."

Daisuke fished around in the box, his tongue between his teeth in concentration and retrieved a gray one with black spots all over it. He looked it over before shrugging and tossing it into his mouth. His face was impassive for a few seconds before he suddenly jumped out of his seat shouting, "Pepper! _Pepper! _GAH!"

He spit out the jelly bean and dashed to the bar, begging for water.

"Our champion, everybody!" the twins announced, pulling Masaki out of her seat. Evidently, most of the crowd had been watching for they cheered with the group of teenagers. Eventually, Tom dispersed the crowd and everyone went up to bed.

Masaki had just found herself extremely comfortable under the thick covers when Ishiin burst into the room, the light from the hall creating a square on the floor. Evee couldn't help but notice the irritated look on her friend's face.

"You girls packed?" Ishiin asked. "We have to get up early tomorrow!"

Masaki growled and pointed at her neatly packed suitcase at the foot of her bed before tunneling deeper into the sheets.

"I'm packed too, Mr. Kurosaki," said Evee with a sheepish grin. Masaki made an odd noise that sounded a bit like the Frankenstein monster from under her blankets and rolled over to glare at Ishiin. Getting the message she was sending, Ishiin backed slowly out of the room, shutting the door behind him and Evee heard Masaki burrowing her way back under the covers once more as the former's eyes adjusted to the sudden dark. She couldn't help but be excited as she fully realized what tomorrow held in store. They had only seen a small portion of the magical world and Evee couldn't wait to see more.

**BREAK**

The next morning was hectic to say the least. Weasleys were running left and right, Kaien and Daisuke had managed to switch shoes even though Daisuke's were two sizes bigger, Masaki refused to wake up until ten minutes before they had to leave, Evee couldn't find her jacket and Hermione and Ginny spent around an hour trying to coax Crookshanks out from under a dresser and into his basket. Finally, they were out the door and settling into the ministry cars Arthur had been able to borrow, on their way to King's Cross Station. They arrived at the station with fifteen minutes to spare and, after saying goodbye to the Weasley parents, the nine of them plus Ishiin and Renji went through the barrier (Daisuke and Kaien had played with it a few times until Masaki pulled them through) and boarded the train. They went their separate ways, Renji and Ishiin going to the teachers' car, the Weasley twins saying something about their friend having an acromantula (whatever that was), and leaving Harry, Ron and Hermione to share a compartment with Kaien, Evee, Masaki and Daisuke.

"Come on, we'll show you how to play Exploding Snap," said Harry as they entered one. It was a little cramped, but not uncomfortable.

"So, tell us, what was your old school like?" asked Hermione. Daisuke was the first to answer.

"Honestly, it's more like a military school. The students work their way up the ranks, so a lot of the older students are called lieutenants and the teachers are called captains. There's one who's a pretty young captain, but he's just short. Our school only has six years instead of seven, so that's a bit different too."

Evee added on, "Each captain specializes in something. Younger students aren't allowed around one because he's kind of dangerous."

Kaien took Evee's pause as an opportunity to continue.

"We actually have an extra class with a different kind of magic than the stuff you learn here."

"Really?" Hermione asked, looking fascinated. Masaki nodded, looking pointedly at Kaien. He looked sheepish for mentioning Kido and Masaki continued.

"I'd show you, but I'm not sure if it's against our school rules or not."

"Oh. Well, I'm sure it's for the best," said Hermione.

"So, what was that you were saying about Exploding Snap?" Evee asked. Harry pulled the cards out of his bag and Ron explained the point of the game. Eventually, they ran out of cards and Daisuke brought up another topic.

"We, um—we heard Madame Malkin say something exciting was going to happen this year, but she didn't say what it was…do you three have any idea?"

His three friends nodded in agreement, leaning forward, but all fell back into their seats as the trio in front of them shook their heads.

"Mum and Percy said the same thing," said Ron. "They won't tell either."

The door to their compartment opened and a tall boy with blond hair and a pointed face stood in the doorway, flanked by two large boys.

"So, Potter, thinking of putting your name in?" the blond one asked. Harry just looked confused.

"What?"

The boy looked amused.

"You don't know?" he laughed. The other two boys chuckled stupidly behind him when he turned and muttered, "He doesn't know!"

He turned back to Harry. "Well, I suppose I'm just wasting my time here—see you at school then, Potty, Weasel."

The boy's gray eyes glanced over the transfers before he left, shutting the door behind him with a loud snap.

"Who was that?" Kaien asked.

"Nobody," said Ron bitterly. "Just ignore him."

The next two hours passed in awkward silence which was broken by Hermione saying that they were almost there and should change into their robes. Finally, the train stopped with a small lurch and Evee started to pull her trunk down.

"Oh, you can just leave it," said Hermione. "They'll get it up to your dormitory after the feast."

"Oh…ok then…" Evee pushed her trunk back into place and they filed out of the compartment and into the rest of the crowd. Daisuke and Masaki were the last out and Daisuke pulled at his robes, muttering, "These are so awkward compared to our other ones!" to his friend.

Harry, Ron and Hermione led the others to the carriages and they rode along the dirt street for what felt like ten minutes before they finally saw it. The Hogwarts castle loomed over the grounds, silhouetted against the night sky. Kaien whistled in amazement and the carriages jerked to a stop. McGonagall walked purposefully over to them.

"Potter, Weasley and Granger, you may go ahead to the castle. The transfers need to wait with the rest of the first years."

The trio nodded and started the miniature hike up the grounds to the castle doors. McGonagall waited a few minutes, looking for something in the distance. When it seemed she had spotted it, she led the four up the grounds to the front doors where they waited in the Entrance Hall with the eleven year old wizards who were staring both at the large castle and grounds around them as well as the teenagers standing among them. The professor gave a small speech, instructing them to wait until further notice. At last, the enormous double doors opened and the crowd flooded orderly inside.


	5. Chapter 5

**Been a while since I updated, huh? Anyway here you go. **

Chapter Five

The four teenagers stood at the back of the Great Hall with the first years, waiting to be sorted. A short distance in front of them was a small boy wrapped in a coat that was nearly ten sizes bigger than him. They saw him mouth 'I fell in the lake!' to a boy who looked like his brother at one of the tables. The older group was earning some strange looks from the rest of the students, apart from a blonde-haired boy who wore a smug grin like he knew something the others didn't. He was sitting next to two large boys who looked like they were even unsure of their names.

Finally the first years were sorted and the Shinigami and arrancar waited obediently by the large oak doors. Dumbledore stood up at the owl shaped podium and raised his arms to silence the students for an announcement.

"As I'm sure you've all noticed, we have a few new students joining who are decidedly not first years." A few people laughed and he smiled before continuing. "They are transfer students from a wizarding school in Japan, the name of which is far too long and difficult to pronounce for me to tell you." Again, laughter circulated around the room. "They will be starting as sixth years, which is about where their curriculum at their old school left off. Make them feel welcome." He addressed the four in the back. "If you four will step forward when your name is called, we will sort you into your houses."

McGonagall unrolled another, shorter scroll and read off the names.

"Kurosaki, Kaien."

Kaien stepped forward, making his way down the aisle. He could hear whispers from the people around him ("Look at his eyes!" "Are they purple?" "What's with his hair?" "D'you think it's dyed?") before he sat on the stool. McGonagall placed the hat on his head. As soon as it touched his spiky hair, a voice filled his ears.

"_Ah! I thought I heard Dumbledore talking about some 'strange new students'. Well it's not really my job to pry into that_."

That was about when Kaien realized that the hat was talking to him and his fingers tightened around the stool. The hat continued, "_Well, you're a brave one, there's no doubt about that. Almost to the point of being reckless…_"

The hat mumbled a few more things that Kaien didn't quite catch before it shouted,

"GRYFFINDOR!"

The left center table erupted into applause and Kaien went to sit by the four Weasley children. McGonagall looked to the scroll again.

"Kurosaki, Masaki."

A few people sniggered at the fact that her name rhymed. Others just thought that, like her brother, she'd dyed the tips of her hair orange. She sat on the stool and McGonagall put the hat on her.

"_Oh! Another set of twins! We have quite a few of those already_!"

Masaki glared up at the hat.

"_Well, let's see where you belong. Indeed, like your brother, you are definitely brave. Very loyal to your friends, almost protective…but there's something else in you…you're cunning and resourceful, I see…but there's also something darker…hmm…I've decided to put you in—_" The brim of the hat opened wide and shouted to the rest of the room, "SLYTHERIN!"

There was a small amount of applause from the Slytherin table, as if they almost regretted the fact that they got one of the foreign students. At least some of them seemed excited. The blonde boy she'd seen earlier cleared a spot next to him and patted the bench. Masaki sat next to him reluctantly, seeing as there was no other space, and he spoke slowly and deliberately, using large hand movements.

"I am Draco Malfoy. Do you speak English?" It sounded like he was trying to speak to a toddler. "English?"

Masaki's eyebrow twitched in annoyance, but she grinned, making a mental note to thank Kisuke later, and smiled up at Malfoy.

"Fluently," she responded. "Though you sound a bit slow…what year are you in again?"

Malfoy set his jaw with a glare and looked away to say something to the large boys next to him. Masaki looked back up in time to see McGonagall call,

"Ichimaru, Daisuke."

Daisuke strode up to the stool with the usual calm grin on his face. He looked over and winked at Masaki who rolled her eyes. The hat had barely touched his head before it shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!"

Daisuke stood up and gave the hat back to McGonagall with a flourished bow. Again, Masaki rolled her eyes while Kaien and Evee laughed along with a few other students.

"Always the showman," Masaki mumbled with a grin. She couldn't help but smile. She'd definitely gotten used to his behavior.

"Schiffer, Evee."

"Oh, good. A normal name," Malfoy said to one of the large boys from before, not exactly trying to be quiet.

"It's not that hard to learn a name, y'know," Masaki grumbled back to him, pinching the bridge of her nose and switching to Japanese as she tacked on, "_Watashi wa baka ni kakoma rete iru…"_

Malfoy looked at her as the hat yelled, "HUFFLEPUFF!"

"What did you just call me?" he asked.

"Nothing. _Baka._"

Malfoy was about to retort when Dumbledore stood up at the podium again.

"Now that our new students are sorted and seated, I have only a few other announcements. This year, Hogwarts will be playing host to two other schools for the Triwizard Tournament."

Excited whispers broke out through the hall and Dumbledore silenced them again. "However, there will be a change. We have decided to allow four schools to compete, if our new transfers would like to represent their old school. My second announcement: We will have three new teachers joining us this year."

Ishiin and Renji, both in dark colored wizards' robes, stood up at the teachers' table.

"Accompanying the transfers students, are professors Ishiin Kurosaki and Renji Abarai. They will be assisting our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Alastor Moody…" Dumbledore looked up and down the table. "… who doesn't seem to have arrived yet."

At the Gryffindor table, George leaned over to Kaien.

"He's got the same last name," he said, pointing at Ishiin. "Any relation, or is Kur—eh—Kuro…saki a common name where you come from?"

It took him a couple tries to pronounce the name.

"My grandpa," Kaien confirmed. Fred raised himself in his seat slightly to get a better look at Masaki. "Looks like she's having a row with Malfoy…"

"Shame about her being in Slytherin though," said George, pulling his brother back down.

"Why's that?" Daisuke asked.

"You didn't know?" asked Ron.

"Any wizard who's ever gone bad was in Slytherin," Ginny clarified.

Daisuke and Kaien exchanged a look, knowing exactly why Masaki had been put in Slytherin.

'The hollow?' Daisuke mouthed. Kaien nodded.

"Don't worry, Masaki's not evil," said Kaien.

"Unless you wake her up early," Daisuke cut in. "Then she'll bite your head off."

"I see," George said slowly, casting a pointed glance at Ginny. She just rolled her eyes and went back to her food. Evee seemed to be making friends quickly over at the Hufflepuff table.

"I'm Ernie," said a blonde boy, holding out his hand, "Ernie MacMillan. It's nice to meet you—er—Evee, right?"

"Yeah. It's nice to meet you too, Ernie!"

"So you're from Japan?" asked a girl with pigtails. "I'm Hannah by the way."

"Yep, I am," Evee replied with a smile. "I hope we can be friends."

"That probably won't be a problem," said Ernie. "Hufflepuffs tend to be generally nice people."

There was a sudden splash followed by a shout from the Slytherin table. Evee looked up to see the blonde boy from the train covered in what looked like pumpkin juice and Masaki nearly falling out of her seat in silent laughter, her wand in her hand. The new Hufflepuff couldn't help but smile at her friend.

Masaki hastily put her wand away as Malfoy turned to face her.

"Why—dammit—!" he spluttered. The two large boys next to him got up from their seats and cracked their knuckles menacingly at Masaki. She sobered up, the smile disappearing from her face and her eyes gleaming dangerously.

"You don't wanna do that," she said, warning the two boys. They either didn't hear or were too stupid to understand. The taller of the two lifted her by the front of her robes and she felt something flare inside her.

"Put. Me. Down," she growled. The boy grinned stupidly at his friend. _He _is_ a lot bigger than me, _Masaki thought. Her hand reached up to her side before remembering her zanpaku-to wasn't there. Swearing under her breath, she ran through other ideas of how to get down. Suddenly, she began to feel like she was choking. Within seconds, she realized that her hollow was starting to force its way out. Judging by the lack of reaction around her, nothing was visible yet and she tried to take a deep breath and force the hollow back. Soon the feeling went away and she opened her eyes to see the boy pulling back a fist. Out of the corner of her eye she could see her brother and friends standing up at their tables. Before anything happened however, a teacher appeared as if out of nowhere and placed a hand on the boy's arm. The teacher was a tall man with a large, hooked nose and greasy, black hair.

"Mr. Crabbe, I'd prefer not to take points from my own house before the year officially begins," he said in a slow drawling voice. "Please put Miss Kurosaki down."

Crabbe blinked at him vaguely before slowly lowering Masaki back on her feet. Masaki cleared her throat and dusted herself off.

"Thank you," she said with a small bow to the teacher. Masaki looked over at the other transfers and nodded slightly before taking her seat again.

Kaien and Daisuke sat back down in their seats with nearly identical glares on their faces.

"She okay?" George asked.

"Fine," said Kaien.

"A teacher broke it up," Daisuke explained.

"Which one?" Ron asked. The other two shrugged.

"Black hair, hooked nose—," Kaien started. Ron cut him off with a noise that sounded something like disgust.

"Snape. He hates us, so don't go doing anything stupid around him."

Kaien raised his eyebrows at Daisuke. "Thanks for the tip."

Finally, the feast was over and Dumbledore was sending everyone, following the prefects, to their common rooms for the night.

**So, yeah, whatever. Let me know what you think of the houses, those of you who read the other story that this kinda goes with, and if you're wondering what she said, it was "I'm surrounded by idiots."**

**Anyway, read and review or whatever. **


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